Shorts

My Movie Pitch (from Tribeca Film and American Express) announces its 2011 winner, Susan Brennan. She made a pitch (after the jump) and Ed Burns will write and direct the short with her help. The film will premiere at the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival. They explain the story together below. You can fol...

The Academy documentary branch has selected eight documentary shorts from 35 eligible entries, of which three to five will earn Oscar nominations on January 24. At this year's Ashland Film Festival, the best of ten doc shorts went to The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Moveme...

Cinema Eye names the eleven finalists for its Honor for Outstanding Achievement in Nonfiction Short Filmmaking. Five official nominees will be named on October 26, 2011, and a winner will be announced January 11 at the 5th Annual Cinema Eye Honors in NYC. This marks the second year Cinema Eye has re...

Focus Features' Africa First short film program announces fourth set of winners. Each filmmaker--of African nationality and residence--will receive $10,000 and will be networked with and mentored by leaders of the African film community.

Hope springs eternal. Each time an underdog character actor pushes into surprise Oscar contention, it brings back the hope that anything is possible. Especially when a micro-indie boasts an Oscar-nominee, publicists send movie scribes pitches like this one (pasted below), for a live-action short sta...

Documentary filmmakers must submit their short subjects to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences by the deadline of Thursday, September 1 for consideration for the 84th Academy Awards.To be eligible, the documentaries must complete a seven-day commercial run in a theater in either Los Angeles County or in the Borough of Manhattan in New York, between January 1, 2011, and December 31, 2011. All paperwork must be completed and received by the Academy no later than 30 days after the end of the qualifying run. For films completing their qualifying run after August 1, all paperwork, including legal contracts, must be completed and receiv...

The 7th Annual HollyShorts Film Festival announced 2011's class of short film winners in a standing room only awards ceremony Thursday night. The HollyShorts Best Overall Short Film went to Mrs. Peppercorn's Magical Reading Room, posted below. Mike LeHan's eerie, sepia-toned film shows the persisten...

Hungry? You will be after watching this short film, "Eat," one of a series also including "Move" and "Learn," made by Rick Mereki, Tim White and Andrew Lees (shot in 44 days, 11 countries, across 38,000 miles, by way of 18 flights). Lucky boys. [via BrainPickings] EAT from Rick Mereki on Vimeo.

Robert Redford's Sundance Fest was born to be different, down to its roots in the Utah Rocky Mountains. This summer fest parent the Sundance Institute is moving one of its famed labs into the heart of Hollywood.

It's no secret that Many American states, especially the largest ones, exhibit a certain schizophrenia when it comes to the diverse millions that live within their borders. Take Texas, at once a bastion of renegade conservatism and home to liberal, artsy college town Austin.